Aug 12, 2026 · 26 min
French police test DNA privacy to solve a cold case
To Solve a Cold Case, French Police Bent DNA Privacy Law
The investigation exposed a conflict between victims’ demand for answers and Europe’s strict limits on genetic genealogy.
- 1French investigators used American genealogy databases to identify a suspect after decades without a database match.
- 2The breakthrough narrowed hundreds of relatives to three men before DNA confirmed Bruno Lambrish Gonzalvo.
- 3Gonzalvo’s death before trial left the technique’s legality, admissibility, and future in France unresolved.
Don't miss
French investigators narrow hundreds of descendants to three men before a DNA sample confirms Bruno Lambrish Gonzalvo.
The brief
A 1998 rape launched France’s Predator of the Woods investigation, but DNA linking multiple attacks produced no database match and the case stayed unsolved for decades.
Genetic genealogy changed the possibilities: American investigators had used relatives’ DNA and family trees to solve cold cases, while France prohibited recreational DNA testing.
French police sent the case to the FBI despite legal uncertainty, which identified distant relatives and connected two family trees through a shared ancestral couple.
Investigators narrowed hundreds of descendants to three men; a DNA sample obtained after a raid confirmed Bruno Lambrish Gonzalvo as the attacker.
Gonzalvo died by suicide before trial, leaving courts and lawmakers to debate whether genetic genealogy can be used for serious crimes in France and Europe.
Featuring
Matthew DaltonMentioned
Ancestry.com LLCListen to the full episode and explore every guest, topic, and moment on PodLume.